Cuddy and Wilson have conspired in the last few episodes to get House "to change." Rather than doing him good, they have sent him ever closer to the edge (or to use the episode’s metaphor, the line). In the season premiere, "Meaning," House comes into his office and sees the spot where he was shot; where he had the hallucination; where he set in motion the steps that brought him an all too brief and torturous look at what might have been. Is the carpet a reminder, a talisman, about what’s possible? I think that it is exactly that.
As House diagnoses the severely autistic young Adam, he observes that the parents live an unrewarding and unfulfilled life. As with his patient's wife in “Meaning,” they don’t “like” what they’re doing, but to not do it would make them miserable. So they trudge onward. The best they can hope for (in House's view) with their ill son is a return to the status quo — a difficult and unrewarded life.
Needing to run an invasive procedure, the team needs to administer general anesthesia to Adam, who is (to say the least) uncooperative. None of the team really know how to deal with the frightened and difficult child. Entering the boy’s room, the perceptive House immediately picks up on the boy’s fear and settles the kid enough to perform the necessary procedure. He does this by "eating the berries" — showing Adam that the procedure is harmless by submitting to it himself. (Hugh’s great physical comedic skills and flawless timing made that scene go from one of great emotion to one of absolute hilarity as the very loopy House stumbles around and later — still high on the anesthesia — uninhibitedly tells Cameron he likes her hair. Bravo for that, Hugh!)
House has accomplished a minor miracle here, but he is completely unaware that he has done something “special” or praiseworthy. The whole gratitude and how it relates to happiness continues to confuse House in this episode, and I’m delighted that the show’s producers continue to explore it.
Interestingly, House feels the happiness scale “10” when he solves a case and saves a life. But Wilson and Cuddy dismiss House's sense of fulfillment in those cases as "a high,” and therefore, something bad, something that Wilson and Cuddy seem to want to deny him. They seem to want him to appreciate that happiness comes in shades of gray. But is House's "all or nothing" approach to happiness invalid? Clearly from both this episode and "Meaning," we can see that House derives little satisfaction from simply “fixing” a problem, as he has here with Adam. As he watches the family leaving the hospital at the end of the episode, House contemplates their still bleak future. House has not bettered their lives, only returned them to their “normal.” His intervention has not changed anything for them. And House derives nothing from it. House cannot be feel happiness about the outcome.
Article comments
1 - Robin
Thanks Barb for reviewing this one. It is one of my favorite episodes because of its subtley and the Cameron interaction. I am in the camp of House having AS. It explains alot to me like House's sensory sensitivity (tasting lead paint in a cup or out of tuned instruments) and general behavior. Also, David Shore was asked if House had AS or OCD during a internet interview and his answer was "he has aspects of those things that is part of his genius." So it is undiagnosed and the show has not mentioned it again which I think is a good thing because it keeps the mystery of House in place.
2 - Barbara Barnett
Thanks Robin. I know the topic of House and AS has been discussed ad infinitum over on Television Without Pity and other forums, but it's an interesting question.
As far as the musical stuff, I think House is just an exceptional musician and not explained by AS. He has an extraordinary ear (which also explains his facility with language--the two often go together, along with math). Other people have said that he doesn't have it, but shares some common traits with Aspergers sufferers. I actually liked Cameron at the beginning of season three (not in the premiere, though). I really disliked Wilson. Really, really disliked him.
3 - angelcat2865 (Candy)
Great review as always! This is such an crucial episode in that you can really see that House is reaching a breaking point just before his heartbreaking downhill slide during the Tritter arc.
"I really disliked Wilson. Really, really disliked him."
Like you I was also very upset with Wilson during most of the season. I felt his actions contributed greatly to House's downfall.
4 - Barbara Barnett
Hi angelcat. LitS (as it is called) is indeed a pivotal episode. Although it is never stated as to why House "needed" his carpeting back the way it was, I think much of the reason had to do exactly with the fact that he was at the breaking point. He held it together even at the beginning of the Tritter arc, but I have to think that had Wilson (and to a lesser extent, Cuddy) not so badly failed him at the beginning he might have come through the ordeal a little less unscathed. His fear, the pain, the pressure from everyone and the lack of pain relief (and his life coming apart at the seams began with this subtly dark episode).
I remember not liking it the first time round because House was so very manic in it, but I think there's an explanation for his wildness--and for his envy of the boy.
Barbara
5 - sue
Another "line" alluded to in this episode is the age of consent. Whether a girl of 17 can make up her own mind who she wants to have sex with. Should legislators make that decision? John Stossel is doing a series on 20/20 about this. Another topical subject they manage to work into an episode. They do that well.
One thing House has that would suggest House doesn't have AS is his uncanny ability to "read" people. He uses visual, physical and intellectual cues that reveal more about a patient than just the symptoms and tests. One of the reasons he can solve cases is that he integrates these cues into the entire picture the patient presents. Often, the diagnosis cannot be made without this information. House is more tuned in to these cues than any other character on the show, and more than most people. Remember, in The Jerk, House was looking for a "tell" in Cuddy's face to see if she was dishonest about Foreman's job cancellation. People with AS have difficulty with this. House does not have difficulty making friends. His relationship with Wilson is evidence of that. House does not make friends with people by choice. Most of House's quirks can be explained by emotional and physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his father.
6 - Mary
I agree with Sue that Greg House's history of abuse can explain a great deal about him, much more so than Asperger's Syndrome does. The eldest daughter of a friend of mine has AS; interactions with her are always disconcerting, because there's so much about interacting with other people that she has never understood, and never will.
As Sue notes, House is more than usually attuned to clues from his patients and others that most of us have learned to ignore. This hyper-alertness is likely the result of his abusive childhood, where it was a survival skill in an erratic and threatening environment. However useful this ability may be in his profession, processing all this information is also emotionally exhausting, which may be why House envies the autistic child for his ability to totally tune out the waves of information that come from other people.
7 - Barbara Barnett
I agree with both of you, Sue and Mary. I think House's hyperalertness and his innate distrust of people (and his self-loathing) are all attributable to the treatment he had at his father's hands.
I know very little about AS, and from what I do know, I also do not believe that House has it. Nor do I believe that Cuddy thinks he has it. But I think she ultimately understood that there was some reason he needed the carpeting (maybe even that he doesn't himself undersdtand) and so gave it back to him.